With all of the drama going on with politics in Colorado and at the national level, it is easy to lose track of lower profile ballot issues that we will be voting on this November. This year, not paying attention could be really dangerous. This is because the oil and gas industry is funding an unprecedented attack on our neighborhoods and communities by undermining our ability to protect the health and safety of Colorado residents and rigging the game for their own special interests.

Start paying attention to what is now known as Initiative 108 (its name will change later this fall). While it is ostensibly being pushed by the Colorado Farm Bureau, the real proponents behind it are the state's biggest oil and gas companies — Anadarko, Extraction and Noble Energy — who have already contributed over $13 million to an issue committee working on this measure.

This ballot measure would define almost any government health, safety or environmental regulation that limits what a property owner can do as a "taking" of private property, thereby requiring us as taxpayers to compensate the property owner for reasonable restrictions protecting communities.

The implications go far beyond oil and gas drilling. The initiative is so broad that it would paralyze virtually any action by state or local government. Some examples of normal, common sense rules that would be threatened include

Just think about how dire the consequences would be. If this passes, it means that if Coloradans want to have reasonable rules requiring the oil and gas industry to protect clean water or clean air, or to require drillers to stay away from schools or homes, taxpayers would have to pay the these multi-billion dollar companies for all of the money they could have made if they were allowed to pollute or to invade neighborhoods.

While there are other states that have adopted takings measures, almost all have been far more reasonable, and have clearly excluded regulations related to public safety, pollution control and public nuisances. The fact that this proposal has no such exclusions makes it by far the most extreme takings measure of any state.

The closest action any state has taken was in Oregon in 2004, when real estate interests passed a similar measure on the ballot. Just like here, industry hid behind farmers, pretending this was about protecting individual property rights. Then, when the measure passed, it quickly became obvious that the intent was to force local governments to approve sprawling subdivisions all over the state — claims were filed to put taxpayers on the hook for $19.8 billion. When voters realized that they had been duped, they approved a new measure three years later that effectively repealed the earlier initiative.

This measure is not about protecting private property rights. The state Constitution already states that "private property shall not be taken or damaged, for public or private use, without just compensation." No, the purpose of this initiative is to bankrupt any local and state government that tries to regulate the oil and gas industry to protect public health, safety or the environment. In other words, it is also the oil and gas industry's insurance policy against stronger health and safety regulations that a new governor may support.

The cynicism is stunning. The oil and gas industry is always touting the revenue they provide to state and local government through property taxes and severance taxes — but with this ballot measure industry has shown that they are perfectly willing to try to bankrupt any community, creating fiscal chaos and enormous burdens to taxpayers.

This is simply too extreme for Colorado. Vote no on this measure — it goes too far.

Will Toor is a former Boulder mayor and Boulder County commissioner. Email: willtoor@gmail.com.

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